Civil Defence International Day gains national observance

The world celebrates Civil Defence International Day on March 1. The day of observance was implemented in 1972 under the Civil Defence International Organisation Constitution, strengthened and developed as an inter-governmental, international organisation of the United Nations.

Mahmoud Hamad Media Coordinator, Civil Defence

Since 2002, the International Civil Protection Organisation launched an international awareness programme on this occasion to focus on the role of Civil Defence in every country and provide protection, prevention and control for all people without exception. It is also to protect the achievements of communities, national wealth, civilisational heritage, as well as the local, regional and international environment.

Every year, ceremonies are conducted in all countries under a unified logo of the services provided by the Civil Defence, for a particular segment of the population or economy.

The Gulf Cooperation Council Civil Defence leaders have annual activities and celebration programmes, which have been implemented across the GCC.

This year the world celebrates the International Day of Civil Defence under the slogan 'Disaster Risk Reduction within Sustainable Development' in order to promote the reduction of natural and accidental disasters, including an attempt to prevent disasters, if possible, mitigation, preparedness, response, rescue, reduce the number of fatalities, and minimise the economic and social losses when they occur.

“We are living in an active planet, which is relatively stable. But when facing a natural phenomenon, poor infrastructure and the lack of ability to absorb the extreme phenomenon leads to disasters,” Mahmoud Hamad, Media Coordinator, Civil Defence, says.

A disaster is a sudden catastrophic event which leads to multiple and successive crises. In certain circumstances, it may worsen and cause other disasters.

“Global statistical studies suggest that 90 per cent of natural disasters are related to atmospheric phenomena (weather, climate and water),” he adds.

A major reinsurance company in the world, Munich Re, published an annual report for 2014, which claimed that improvements in disaster preparedness and response measures in recent years, including early warning systems and rapid evacuation from danger zones, means greater number of survivors from natural disasters such as earthquakes and floods. For 2014, global disaster preparedness reduced the number of deaths to 7,700 people in 2014 from 21,000 in 2013, while the natural disaster economic losses dropped to $110 billion from $140 billion in the previous year.

But still, the losses are serious. The Civil Defence plays an essential role before, during and after the disaster, based on a clear and integrated strategy.

The Civil Defence is a partner in the sustainable development of any country. Disasters caused by earthquakes, floods, droughts, hurricanes and tsunamis lead to devastating effects on humans and the environments and economies in poorly developed countries. But with built-in resilience (of smart choices), people are able to withstand these impacts and a speedy recovery is still possible.

Smart choices help build resilience during a disaster recovery, however, poor ones make us more vulnerable, such as the selection methods of agriculture, construction and housing sites, dams sites, industrial zones sites, the financial system, teaching methods, natural resources management, and so on.

With the accelerated pace of natural disasters causing more damage to human life and the prosperity of civilisation in recent years, interest is substantially increasing to concentrate the cities in safe locations, with strong infrastructure, which means safety in the present  besides being smart in the future for residents.

This is associated with advance planning and a permanent state of vigilance and attention.

Most experts hope to set a capacity to withstand disasters, and this proactive concept would strengthen the link between sustainable development and reduced disaster risk.